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Three Montrealers charged in $20,000 extortion

OTTAWA — Three Montreal residents charged with trying to extort $20,000 from a Montreal-area business man with ties to municipal politics appeared in an Ottawa courtroom Monday.

Police said Monday they began a joint investigation with Montreal police after a 48-year-old man made a complaint to police on Feb. 20.

Three people, one of whom knew the man, whose name is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, asked the man to meet them in Ottawa. Once he arrived, they made their demands for thousands of dollars.

Police would not say what the extortion plot involved. According to court documents, the trio is alleged to have tried to extort the man with photos and video and threatened to go to the media if he didn’t pay them. Police would not say what the photos and videos were of, but the did say it was “sensitive material.”

Court documents also said the trio allegedly stole a pair of headphones from the man.